Ditching-machine.



M.`L. POULTER. DITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1912.

1,071,085. Patented Aug. 26, 1913 8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ml Ll DITOHING MACHINE.

ArrLxoA'rIon FILED anrT. 2v, 1912.

1,071,085. Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

SHEETS-SHEET 3. 31E; E 75 a l Z4 l if? f; \97a 45 1 l 7 i0/ 7/ A-f @j El{I5- .1 E w @noem/Coz SH01/nudo DITOHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1912.

' M. L. POULTER.

1,071,085, Ilatented Aug. 2 6, 1913 -T.- v l `E3.-Hl-I'g-BHEBT 4.

akker/muda M. L. POULTER.

DITOHING HAOHINB.

ArPLIoA'rIol Hum sur. 21. 191s.

' Patent-,ea Aug.26,1913.

M. L. -POULTER.

DITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1912. 1,071,085, Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

B SHEETS-SHEET 6.

` juve/nto@ fond/Z924 Nm., w m @T3 m .MMIYMI H my H u Q\ uw o w o w \mwmouw Q M mxpiip w u w Q V Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

Ml. joa ZZQQ" (www 1?? l l `d y@ attozwmo WMM/woes M. L. POULTER.

DITCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED s112122?, 1912.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

3 BHEETB-SHBET 8.

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MICAJAI-I L. YOULTEB, F MOUNT PLEASANT, IOIA,v ASSIGNOB, TO IOWADITCBING MACHINE CO., 0F MOUNT PLEASAN '11, IOWA, A conPonA'TtoN orIOWA.

DITGHINGr-MACHINE.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.v

. Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ditching-Machines; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to excavators of the chain and bucket type, andmore especially it is a machine for digging a trench or ditch anddelivering the excavated soil either to one 'side thereof or back intothe ditch.

@ne object of the invention is to produce an improved form of excavatingmechanism, and means forv raising and lowering it so that it may be heldabove the ground when the machine is moving from point to point or maybe depressed to such an extent that it will dig a ditch of the desireddepth.

Another object is to produce an improved form of bucket for useinconnection with the excavator.

Another object is to produce an improved form of bucket cleaning orscraping mechanism whereby the various buckets are cleaned or scrapedjustv after they dump their loads each time they move upward out of theditch.

The following specification describes in detail one embodiment of myinvention as set forth in the appended claims, and as shown in thedrawings wherein- Figure 1 is a general-side elevation of this machinetaken from the left side, showing the excavating mechanism as loweredinto the ground and as digging'a ditch; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation ofthe same; Fig. 3 is an enlarged left side elevation of the excavatingmechanism parts, excepting the spout which is here shown in what mightbe called front eleva- 1 lion; Fig. is an enlarged elevation of theupper end of the excavating mechanism as viewed from the rear, someparts of the framework and the bucket bottom being shown in section;Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of F1g..3; Fig. 6 1s a sideelevation plan view of the spout frame and A mechanism on an enlargedscale, the dotte disassociated from the otherV of the scraper; Fig. 7 isa sectional detail on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4; Fig.4 8 is an enlargedcentral vertical section-of the upper end of the excavator, this sectionbeing also taken through the center yof the scraping mechanism; Fig. 9is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 12, Fig. 10 a section on the line10--10 of Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11-11 of Fig. 10;Fig. 12 is a section on the line 12-12 of Fig. 13, and Fig. 1,3 asection on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a its drivin linesindicating how its position might be changed so as Jtodeli'ver to therear instead' of to the side of the machine; Fig. 15 is a side elevationof this spout, .taken from the front end of the entire machine, and onan enlarged scale, showing said spout in conjunction With the chute;Fig. 16 is a detail showing a bucket in the act of passing the cleaner.A

It i's the purpos'e of the present invention to produce a unitarymachine traveling on wheels and carrying its own source of powerconnected with said wheels so that it may be caused to move slowly alongthe ground, which machine will dig a trenchpf the desired depth, raisethe soil up the upright arm and then move it along the horizontal arm ofthe excavator to the rear, and finally 'chine may also embracetileelaying mecha nism, not shown or described herein, .so that whilethe ditch is open the tiles can be in- Y sorted therein, although ofcourse this might be done by hand. In that event the spout would be sodisposed that the excavated soil would be dumped back into the ditchupon the tiles just laid, but otherwise this soil would be delivered toone side of the ditch for subsequent treatment. I may say here tailedconstruction ofparts are not essential to the successful operation ofthis machine as a whole, and therefore the invention must not be limitedin its scope to the following specification which sets forth only oneemthat the sizes, proportions, materials and de- 4 bodiment of the ideawhich I have found to operate successfully. Not only could the tilef.

laying mechanism be added without depart-- ing from the principle of myinvention, but

' many other changes 1n and elaborations of the connected with thetraction wheels so that the machine as a whole will travel over theground itself, the power might be used simply to do the excavating andthe machine drawn by horses or otherwise.

Bro-adly speaking this machine embraces a framework carrying the powerplant; an excavator whose frame is adjustable in the main framework andwhich disassociated therefrom is perhaps best seen in Figs. 3, 4 and 8;a windlass and the clutch mechanism for throwing the same intoconnection with the power so'that the excavator frame may be raised andlowered, as perhaps best seen in Figs. 9 'and 12; a bucket cleaner bestseen inv Figs. 5, 6 and 8, and in action in Fig. 4; and a spout bestseen in detail in Figs. 8 and 14 and in conjunction with other elementsin Figs. 2, 3 and 15. I have given these mechanisms reference letters sothat they may be broadly referred to hereinafter thereby, and willdescribe them separately as far as possible although it is to beunderstood that they coact with each other in making up a unitarymachine for the urposes set forth.

The ramework F includes a body of angle-iron construction whose detailsneed not be elaborated except where special reference to parts thereofis needed hereinafter, the body being mounted on large main tractionwheels l which stand between the power plant and all other mechanism sothat the latter is overbalanced by the weight of the engine and-no rearwheels are necessary. In other words, the traction wheels l stand atabout the midlength of the frame F, and the front end of the latterissupported by smaller wheels 2 by which the machine may well besteered, although the details of the steering mechanism are not shown. Y

The power plant P is shown in the present case as a steam engineincluding a boiler 3, the engine proper 4, and the driving wheel 5 fromwhich latter connection may be made as by a chain 6 with the tractionwheels 1 so as to cause the machine to travel slowly over the groundwhen it is doing work and perhaps at a 'higher speed when it is beingtransported from point to point. It is obvious that any other suitableform of portable engine might be employed, and of course the power plantneed' not be connected wit-h'the driving mechanism as the machine mightbe drawn by horses.

The windlass operating mechanism W l1 driven from the power plant P asby a chain 12- and carrying two clutches 13 and 14, oppositely facingseparated bevel gears Y 15 mounted rigidly on a sleeve 16 which looselysurrounds said shaft and themselves having the other members of saidclutches,

'a hand leverv 17 and slide 18 for moving the clutches alternately intoand out of engagement with the gears or to a neutral position asr shownin Fig. 9, and a driven bevel gear 19 standing between said gears 15 andmounted on a shaft 20. The latter carries a worm 21 vmeshing with a wormgear 22, whose shaft in t-urn carries a gear pinion 23 meshing with alarge gear 24 which is fast on the shaft of a windlass 25; and the wormshaft 20 carries a hand wheel 26 as shown. It is obvious that when thegears 15 stand at an intermediate position as shown in Fig. 9 and thedriven gear 19 is not engaged by either of them, the hand wheel 26 canbe rotated to turn the worm 21 so as to set the windlass 25 in eitherdirection as desired; but when the necessities of the case require thatthe windlass shall be rotated to wind up or to unwind the rope upon it,the hand lever 17 is manipulated to throw the proper gear l5 into meshwith the driven gear 19 so that the windlass 25 is rotated. It will beseen that by this mechanism V'I provide means for turning the windlassby power taken from the engine, or by hand, the former when the windlassis to be given several rotations and the latter when it is to be turnedbut a little, and in either case the direction of its rotation maybecontrolled at will by the operator.

The excavator E is of the chain and bucket type moving over a trackhaving an .upright arm anda horizontal arm, the whole carried within itsown frame which is adjustably mounted within the mai-n framework F ofthe machine. The main parallel sills 30 in rear of the traction wheels 1carry a tower consisting of a pairof uprights 31 suitably braced as at32 and connected at their upper ends by an arch 33 which is preferablyemployed so that L-iron or angle-iron may be used throughout, andbetween the lower ends of said uprigh'ts are parallel guides 34 ofU-shaped met-al which preferably extend downward between the sills 30 asbest seen in Fig. 12 and are braced by rods 35 bolted as at 36 to thelower ends of the guides, the latter of course standing at points highenough to clear the surface of the earth as seen in Fig. 2. Mounted insaid loo guides is what might well be called a cross head, herein shownas a shaft 37 having anti- -friction Wheels 38 at its extremities whichrest upon said bolts 36 when the cross head is in its lowest position,and the shaft alsoi by, or continued as at 43, into, the rear pair ofangle irons 44 which are of like construction. The four bars making uthis skeleton frame extend thence upwar to form the upright arm thereof,and as seen in Fig. 8

'they are deflected to the rear at the top of the upright arm into ahorizontal arm as at 41 and 44a and are again connected at the rearupper end as at 43d, the cross straps 42 being continued along thishorizontal arm to give the frame structure suitable strength. The rearset of cross straps 42 carry on their inner faces an upright strap iron45 forming a third track which moves against a fixed wear plate 46mounted on some suitable part of the frame F, as for instance the crossbeam 47 shown in Figs. 9 and 13 as resting on the main sills 30, andthis track 45 slides against said wear plate as the front tracks 40 moveover theanti-friction wheels 39 so that the entire frame of theexcavator E is guided in its rise and fall and is permitted to have aconsiderable vertical movement through the main framework F. Its upperportion is steadied and guided between the uprights 31 in any suitablemanner, but preferably by constructing the pulleybrackets as seen inFig. 7 and attaching them to the excavator frame as seen in Fig. 4. Eachof said brackets may have two arms 48 whereof at least one is made longenough to extend outward past the upright and is provided with a spur orhook 49 slidably engaging the same. The pulleys 50 which are journaledin these brackets coact with the windlass 25 and rope above mentioned,the latter (numbered 51) passing upward from the'windlass as seen inFig. 4

and over a pulley 52 carried by one upright at its upper end, thencedownward under one of the pulleys 50 and across and under the other, andthence upward and secured at the point 53 to the opposite upright; andit will be obvious that when the windlass 25 is rotated in the properdirection to draw upon this rope, the entire excavator will be raisedwithin the uprights of the main framework. I do not, however, limitinyself to this precise form of guide for the l upper end of theexcavator frame, and of course the elevating mechanism and windlasstherefor may be modified to a consid-` erable extent.

The chain of the excavator is made up of links 56, pivotally connectedwit-h each other and having rollers 59 at intervals which are of a sizeto move within the U-shaped bars of the excavator frame, and obviouslythen` are two sides to the chain, one ascending and the other descendingbetween the respective pairs of side bars, the rollers hold ing eitherside midway between said bars as best seen in Fig. 4.v At the rear upperend of the endless carrier thus formed the chain moves over an idlewheel 50 within the curved upper and iear ends 43 of said side bars, andat the lower front end 43 of the latter the chain moves over anotheridle wheel 61, both these wheels being mounted in suitable bearings inthe frame. In the angle of the latter, the chain moves over a sprocketwheel 62, whose shaft 63 carries a gear 64 meshing with a gear pinion(35 whose shaft in turn carries a. sprocket wheel 66 connected with thepower plant P as by a chain belt 67, and by this means rotary motionimparted to the sprocket Wheel 62 drives said chain and the excavator.It will be noticed from Figs. 9 and 12 that the lowermost idle wheel 61which is journaled as low as possible in the excavator frame standsbeneath the shaft 37 of the cross head, and this. construction causesthe latter to be supported by the stops which consist of the bolts 36-in the lower ends of the. guides 34 when the excavator frame is loweredas seen in Fig. 12. But when the ex cavator is raised, as fortransporting the machine over the ground, the lower idle wheel (il riseswith it and if raised high enough it will strike the shaft of the crosshead as seen in Fig. 3 and will eventually raise the entire cross headperhaps as high as the dotted position shown in Fig. 12- the extentthereof depending upon the position of the lowermost bucket or bucketswhen the chain comes to rest. That is to say, if a. bucket stopped belowthe lower idler as seen in Fig. 3, the excavator frame would have to belifted somewhat higher than if the two lowermost buckets stopped atopposite sides of the idler, the idea being of course that the excavatorframe mustbe raised high enough to entirely clear the ground.

The buckets of the excavator are by pref erence made of stout sheetmetal with their bodies 70 slightly oval in end elevation as best seenin Fig. 4, split or slotted along their outer sides as at 71, and havingbrackets72 along their inner sides which are connected with the mainpivots that carry the rollers 59. The front end of each bucket is open,but its rear end is closed by a bottom plate 73 which is preferablycurved slightly in 'cross section as shown in section 'in Figs. 4 and 16and which is piv-L oted at 74 to the heel of the rearmost bracket asshown in Fig. 8.

, The numeral 75 designates a lever pivoted at its front end at 76 tothe foremost bracket 72 and Standing at one side of the chain, its rearend being turned inward be,

hind the bucket and connected with the bottom 73 thereof by a link 77,and said lever' carries a roller 78 which travels outside a ,flat track79 that extends around the same last-named view but at the point 80 thetrack 79 terminates because the bucket is then about to pass aroundtherear idle wheel 60 vand there is no-longer any necessity for keepingits bottom closed. Here the bucket dumps or drops its contents into achute 81 as will be described belowv and commences its return movement,and it is obvious that Vthe-weight of the bottom 73 will hold it closedand therefore the track 79 is no longer needed. Moving onward and thencedownward until it passes between the sills 30 and again into the ditchas seen in Fig.

3, the track 79 is resumed at the point 8 2 and the roller 78 rengagesthe track there and holds the bottom forcibly closed while the bucket isding its work as it passes around the lower idle wheel 61. Hence theabsence of the track between the points 80 and 82 leaves the bucketbottoms closed only by their own weight and this construction ispurposely employed for -a reason which will appear below.

The cleaner C is a valuable if not indispensable adjunct to machines ofthis type which are constantly operating in various 'kinds of soil, andwhich, because of the fact that they force their buckets through thesoil, rapidly choke with mud and clay to such an extent that theeiciency of the machine is impaired if its buckets are not constantlycleaned.A If the bottom of the bucket were left openthe bucket would beeasy to clean but the contents would fall out, and if the bucket wereclosed by a rigid bottom the contents would be retained but the cleaningmechanism would have to be quite complicated or the movement of thechain would have to be interrupted. I have therefore devised a cleanerwhich coacts well with the type of bucket described above, and whosedetails I will now explain, reference being made more particularly toFigs. 4, 5, 6 and 8. Supported principally by a loop-shaped hanger 83depending from the horizontal arm of the excavator frame `by gears withan upright shaft 91, and

the latter by gears 92 with the scraper shaft 93, all this mechanismbeing protected from the dirt by a housing 94 as best seen in Fig. 8.Thescraper shaft 93 passes through the center of a blade or plate 95which is secured by screws'96 to the rear end of the housing as seen inFig. 4, and its upper edge is shaped to conform with the inner side ofthe bottom 73 of the bucket as well as with the internal contour of thebody thereof; and on the rear end of said shaft 93 is a finger 97 whichis caused to rotate over the rear face of said plate by means of thetrain of gearing above described. As the buckets pass around over therear idle wheel 60 as seen in Fig..8', and the track 79 releases therollers on their levers which hold their bottoms closed, their bodiesand bottoms pass over said plate 95 and are scraped clean. A guard rail98, secured as at 99 to the framework, stands in position to be engagedby the levers 75 at this time to hold said bottoms down upon the edge ofthe plate 95 as seen in Fig. 16. The plate naturally accumulatesconsiderable soil, and the rotation of the finger scrapes the soiltherefrom and keeps the cleaner itself clean, everything scraped oif thebucket bottom or out of its body dropping over the shield into the spoutS n'eXt to be described.

The spout S employed in connection with this ditching machine is ofspecial construction and attachment in order that it will coacttherewith to deliver the soil either to the side of the ditch being dugor back into the same, and here again because of the nature of theground being treated I prefer ably employ a spout having a movingconveyer within it so that the material dumped by the buckets will bepositively delivered to the point where it is desired. The framework ofthe spout (see Fig. 14) is made up of side bars 100 suitably braced andconnected as at 101 and having hooks 102 at their upper ends; andthrough said bars are mounted shafts 103 over which moves an endlessbelt 104 constituting the conveyer and whose detailed construction neednot be described. The outermost shaft carries a sprocket wheel 105connected by a chain 106 with a driving sprocket 107 on the rear end ofthe longitudinal shaft 84 described above-this being the means fordriving the conveyer when the spout stands in the position seen in Figs.2 and 15 and in full lines in Fig. 14; but when said spout is disposedat the rear of the machine so as lto fill the trench just dug, thesprocket chain 106 is connected with the sprocket 87 as indicated indotted lines in the last-named view. Ordinarily the spout will deliverthe soil excavated to one side of the ditch as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, inwhich event the hooks 102 will be engaged over an L-iron 103 whose foot109 is bolted to thehanger 83; but whenvthe spout is to deliver to therear the hooks 102 are removed from this L-iron and one of them engageswith said foot 109 as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 14 while the otherengages a bolt or pin 110 at the other side of the hanger 83,' the upperor inner end of the spout in either case being thereby pivotallysupported and standing beneath .the chute 81 and the shield 98 as seenin Fig. 8. A bail 111 is connected with the frame of the spout and fromit leads a chain or rope 112 wh-ich passes over a guide pulley 113 to awindlass 114 which is suitably journaled in the excavator frame withinreach of the operator. When the spout is moved from the position shownin Fig. 3 around to the rear of the machine, the rope 112 is led fromthe pulley 113 over an additional pulley 115,'"so that in eitherposition the operator by manipulating the windlass 1111 can raise andlower the outer or lower end of the spout and cause the delivery of theexcavated soil as seen in Fig. 2. The parts may be properly braced byadditional means not necessary to amplify.

The operation of this machine if constructed substantially as abovedescribed, is as follows: When the frame of the excavator is raised allparts of this entire machine excepting the wheels stand above theground, and it may be transported to the point of use either by horsepower or under its own steam. rFhere the windlass will be rotated in theproper direction by manipulating the clutch mechanism W shown in Fig. 9,and if the rope 51 is slackened the entire excavator E descends withinthe uprights 31 as its guides will permit. Finally the proper vclutch(not shown) in the power plant is manipulated to impart motion to thesprocket chain 67 and the digging mechanism begins its work. The bucketstravel downward and around the lower idler wheel and scoop up the earthbeing excavated, and then travel upward and to the rear until they dumptheir contents upon the chute 81, whence it falls into the spout S andis delivered wherever the operator desires. 1f he is simply digging aditch, the soil is carried outward by the conveyer on the spout anddelivered to one side of the same as seen in Fig. 2; whereas ifsomething is to be laid in the ditch at once-either by machinery or byhandand it is laid as 'fast as the ditch is dug, the spout can bedeflected so as to deliver the soil at the rear of the machine,

and the ditch will be filled as the machine progresses. It is well knownto those familiar with the handling of ditching machines, that when theditch is to be used for irrigating purposes or is to contain irrigatingtiles, its bottom must be given a constant slope whether the surface ot'the land is lat or undulating, so that the pitch of the water either inthe ditch or in the tiles will be substantially uniform from the highestto the lowest point. lf therefore in the progress of the machine acrossa field it should pass over a slight rise in the ground, it will beobvious 'that the excavator must at thatpoint be depressed so that whilethe ditch being dug is here a little deeper its bottom is in line withthe grade being maintained.

On the other hand if the machine should pass across a slightdepressionin the ground, the excavator willhere be lifted temporarily.Either of these slight adjustments may be effected by turning the handwheel 26 of the windlass controlling mechanism W; or it" the operatorhas the clutches 13 and 14 under good control and the engine is movingslowly, it may be possible for him to adjust the excavatorhigher orlower by mechanical means, though these are merely 'for use when theexcavator is to be raised or low ered bodily to some considera-bleextent. Power communicated through the chain 67 to the shaft 63, drivesthe bucket chain, the cleaner, and the -conveyer it one be employedwithin the spout S; so that so long as the excavator is moving theseadjuncts thereof are also at work. As each bucket passes around the rearupper end of the excavator frame and the roller 78 on its lever 75passes off the rear end 80 of the track 79, the bucket bottom 7 3 isfree to open; and hence as the bucket passes over the cleaner, the platewill clean both -the interior of the bucket body 70 and the inner sideof the A falls over the shield 98 into the same` spout.

The latter delivers the soil as desired, and i in order that the machineneed not be built at a too great height from the ground I prefer toemploy the endless conveyor within said spout so that the material dugout of the trench or ditch can be delivered to a considerable distanceto one'side thereof as shown in Fig. 2. Attention is directed to thebracing effect produced by the peculiar construction of the cross headwhich is 'mounted in upright guides on the main framework and travelsinside of tracks/10 carried on the excavator frame. The bracing actionof this cross head in one direction is the opposed by the contact of thewear plate 46 with the strap iron 45 which is rigidly mounted in therear part of the excavator frame. Although the forward progress ofamachine of this kind may be extremely slow, great strain is thrown uponit when the buckets are carried down into t-he ditch and forced to scoopup the material as'indicated in Fig. 1; and in order to bear this strainand carry it from the excavator frame to the main framework at as low apoint as possible, I have devised the rolling support consisting of saidcross head as described above. This takes the rearward thrust thrownupon the excavator as the latter is driven into the soil, and the strapiron 45 contacting wit-h the wear plate 46 steadies the entire structureas will'be clear, holding arts so firmly that some such form of gui e asthat illustratedin Fig. 7 will be suiicient at the upper part of theexcavator frame. It will not be necessary to elaborate details ofconstruction or operation further than as above.

What is claimed as new is: A

l. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator frame, andan excavator including a chain and buckets and means for moving themthroughout the length of the frame; of bucket cleaning mechanism beneaththe rear end of said excavator frame, each of said buckets having ahinged bottom, link-and-lever mechanism connecting the bucket with saidbottom and carrying a roller, and a trackain the excavator framefollowing the path traveled by said chain but omitted where the bucketpasses said cleaning mechanism.

2. In a ditching machine, the combination with a pair of sills carryingguides, stops at the lower ends of said guides. and a cross head whose'extremities move'in said guides and rest normally on said stopsjof anexcavator whose frame is adjustable vertically between said sills andastride said cross head, antifriction wheels on the latter against whichsaid frame rests, the excavator including a chain and buckets, and anidle wheel at its lower end for said chain and adapted to raise saidcross head when the excavator frame is elevated.

3. In a ditching machine, the combination with a pair of sills carryingguides, a cross head whose extremities move in said guides,anti-friction wheels on said cross head, a cross beam connecting saidsills. and a wear plate carried by the beam; of an excavator whose frameis adjustable vertically between said sills and astride said cross headand beam, tracks on the frame bearing against said wheels, an uprightstrap iron in the fra-me bearing against said wear plate, the excavatorincluding a chain and bucket-s, and an idle wheel atits lower endfor`said chain and adapted to raise said cross head when the excavatorframe is elevated.

4. In a ditching machine, the combination with a pair of sills, uprightguides of U- `shaped cross section carried thereby with their lower endsext-ending below the sills,

braces connecting the frame of the machine with the lower end of saidguides, bolts through the braces and guides and forming stops inthelatter, and a cross head having anti-friction rollers at its extremitiesmoving in said guides and resting normally on said stops and flangedanti-friction rollers on its body; of an excavator whose frame isadjustable verticallybetween said sills and astride said cross head,tracks on this frame moving over said flanged wheels, means for holdingthem in engagement therewith, the excavator including a chain andbuckets, and an idle wheel at its lower end for said chain and adaptedto raise the cross head oit said stops when t-he frame is elevated.

5. In a ditching machine, the combination with a support, an excavatorframe thereon having an upright arm and a horizontal arm projecting fromthe upright arm, idle wheels at the outer extremities of both arms, anda power driven sprocket in the angle between said arms; of tracks aroundsaid frame, a chain and bucket carrier traveling on the tracks and thechain engaging said powersprocket, the body of each bucket being slittedalong its outer side and its bottom hinged, means for holding the bottomparallel with its line of travel while the bucket is passing along thelower side of the horizontal arm of the frame, and cleaning deviceslocated at that oint and mounted on a standard across which said slitmoves.

6. In la ditching machine, the combination with an excavator of thechain-and buckettype, a sprocket wheel for driving the same, a gear anda sprocket on the shaft of said sprocket wheel, and a power pinionmeshing with said gear; of a bucket-cleaning plate, a movable finger forcleaning the plate, driving mechanism for said finger, and connectionsbetween this mechanism and the sprocket on the shaft of saidchainsprocket.

7. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator including alchain and substantially tubular buckets, a sprocket over which the chainmoves, and means for rotating the shaft of this sprocket; of a cleaningfinger rotating in a plane at right angles to the axis of said buckets,means for driving the finger, and connections between said means and theshaft of said sprocket wheel.

8. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator including achain and a series of buckets secured thereto and each having a tubularbody provided with a longitudinal slit along its outer side;l of

cleaning mechanism comprising a scraping plate whoseperiphery conformswith the cross sectional internal contour of the bucket b'ody, astandard supporting said plate and over which said slit passesa shaftextending through the center of said platte, a linger mounted on theshaft and moving over the face of the plate for cleaning the latter, anddriving mechanism for said shaft leading down through said standard.

' 9. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator includinga chain and a series of buckets secured thereto and each having atubular body provided with a longitudinal slit along its outer side, abottom hinged to the lower end of the body and transversely curved toconform with the ,curvature of the inner wall of said body,

and means for holding said bottom closed at. times and releasing it atother times; of cleaning mechanism comprising a scraping plate whoseperiphery conforms with the cross sectional internal contour of thebucket body, and the inner side of said bottom, a standard supportingsaid plate and over which said slit passes, mechanism for scraping theface of said plate, and driving means therefor leading through saidstandard,

10. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator including achain and a series of buckets secured thereto, a bottom hinged to thelower end of the body of each bucket and transversely shaped to conformwith the shape of the inner side of said body, lever mechanismconnecting' said body and bottom, and means for direc-ting the course ofsaid buckets; of a cleaner including a plate whoseedge is shaped toconform with the interior of the body and bottom, a guard rail locatedadjacent said cleaner and vpositioned to be struck by ysaid levermechanism when the bucket bottom is opened into alinement with the innerwall of the bucket body, and means engaging said mechanism for holdingsaid bottom closed except when the bucket is passing said `guard rail.

11. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator including achain and a series of buckets secured thereto and each having a tubularbody provided with a longitudinal slit along its outer side, a bottomhinged to the body an'd transversely curved to conform with itscurvature, lever mechanismvconnecting said body and bottom', andparallel tracks for directing the course of said buckets; of a cleanerfixed on a standard in the path of said buckets, a

roller on said lever mechanism, a track for` positioned to be struck bysaid lever mechanism when the cleaner opens the bottom into alinementwith the inner wall of the bucket body.

12. In a ditching machine, the combination with an excavator including achain and a series of buckets secured thereto and each having a tubularbody provided with a longitudinal slit along its outer side, a bottomhinged to the lower end of the body and transversely curved to conformwith the curvature of the inner wall of said body, and means for holdingsaid bottom closed at times and releasing it at other times; of cleaningmechanism comprising a scraping plate Whose periphery conforms with thecross sectional internal contour of the bucket body and the inner sideof said bottom, a standard supporting said plate and over which saidslit moves, a shaft journaled through the center -of said plate, alinger carried by the outer end of said shaft and moving over the faceof the plate, a shaft journaled in said standard and connected with asource of power, and gears connecting said shafts for moving the finger.i

13. In a ditching machine, the combination with the excavator includinga frame, an endless chain movable throughout the length of said frame,buckets on said chain. and each slitted along its outer side, and apower-driven sprocket for moving the chain; of a hanger depending fromsaid frame, a tubular standard supported by said hanger and astridewhich the slits in the buckets pass, a housing carried by the upper endof i the standard, bucket-cleaning devices carried by said housing, amovable finger for scraping said cleaning devices, a shaft eX- tendingupward through said standard, connections between this shaft and fingerand. located within said housing, and operative connections between thelower end of said shaft and the driving sprocket of said chain.

14. The herein described cleaner for excavator buckets and the likecomprising a plate disposed in the path of movement of the buckets andacross said line of movement, and a finger moving over the face of theplate.

15. The herein described cleaner for excavator buckets and the likecomprising a plate disposed in the path yof movement of the buckets andacross said'line of movement, a shaft liournaled through the center ofthe plate, a finger secured to the front end of the shaft and movingover the face of the plate, and means for imparting rotary movement tothe shaft.

16. The herein described cleaner for eX- cavatorbuckets and the likecomprising a plate disposed in the path of movement of the bucketsl andacross said line of movement, a shaft journaled through the center ofthe plate, a finger secured to the front end of the shaft and movingover the face my hand in presence of two subscribing witof the plate, atubular standard supporting nesses.

the plate means passing upward through said stanilard for impartingrotary move- MICAJAH L POULTER l5 ment to said shaft, and a shieldstanding Witnesses:

below said plate. D. B. FINCH,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set J. W. BURNOP.

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